Superstorm Sandy Claims at Least 17 Lives

Seeping into New York City’s Ground Zero construction site, rushing into the city’s financial district, razing at least 50 homes in Queens—powerful Superstorm Sandy battered the Northeast Monday night into Tuesday morning. According to ABCnews.com, the storm has left at least 17 people dead and an estimated 7 million without power.

Thirteen feet of seawater flooded areas of Lower Manhattan, including parts of its electrical system. The Jersey Shore, too, was hit hard.

“The level of devastation at the Jersey Shore is unthinkable,” said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in a news conference Tuesday morning, as reported by washingtonpost.com. “It is beyond anything I thought I’d ever see. Terrible … No question in my mind, the devastation that happened to New Jersey is beyond what happened to anyone else” [from Hurricane Sandy].

Sandy continued to unleash its wrath on Tuesday morning when a berm in Bergen County, N.J., was breached, causing 4 to 5 ft of water to gush into three towns, endangering about 2,000 people, according to the ABCnews.com report.

According to the Howard County Emergency Management Department as reported by TIME.com, a leak at a Maryland water treatment plant is causing roughly 2 million gal of raw sewage to rush out every hour. The leak was reportedly caused by an overflow resulting from power loss.

WWD will be sure to keep you updated on this story’s major developments.

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The Water & Wastes Digest staff invites industry professionals to nominate the water and wastewater projects they deem most remarkable and innovative for recognition in the Annual Reference Guide issue. All projects must have been in the design or construction phase over the last 18 months.